“Tch.”

Harrison clicked his tongue and swung his sword at the man charging toward him with an irritated expression.

When there was an opening to strike, he had to take it. Otherwise, he might be the one lying dead and rolling across the floor.

Yet at the very moment he could have cut the man’s throat, Harrison hesitated. Just as he had once done when he received an order from Marquis Ceres.

Even Harrison himself could not understand his own actions.

“……”

Clutching the hilt of the dagger she had kept hidden inside her clothes, Evelyn watched the situation unfold.

Both the escort knight and Harrison had formally received their knighthoods. Compared to them, the men they were fighting could hardly be called anything more than a disorganized mob.

But numbers could overwhelm even the strongest fighter. The longer the battle continued, the more rapidly the two men became exhausted.

Their breathing grew ragged, and their reaction times gradually slowed.

‘If only there were fewer of them…’

The thought crossed Evelyn’s mind for a moment, but she quickly realized it was meaningless. It would be better to find a way to end this quickly.

Just then, as Evelyn surveyed her surroundings, a massive man roughly the size of two grown men combined came charging toward her with a terrifying roar.

“Uwooooo!”

The two men standing in front of Evelyn seemed not to have noticed him. They were too busy dealing with the enemies immediately in front of them.

“Look out!”

Evelyn shouted urgently. Only then did the two men notice the giant charging toward them.

They hurriedly dodged to either side. But in doing so, they inadvertently opened a path straight toward Evelyn.

“……!”

Just as Evelyn came face-to-face with the enormous man charging at her like a raging bull, a huge shadow fell over her.

A moment later, a man leaped down from atop the high stone wall and planted himself in front of Evelyn.

‘Prince Kassian…?’

***

It was while Kassian, Derek, and Jason were walking along Number Three, Metton Street.

Several women standing in front of a fruit and vegetable stall were staring at something in the distance as they whispered among themselves.

“Oh dear… What should we do?”

“I know. It’s such a shame…”

Their faces were filled with concern.

Derek soon approached them.

“Is something wrong?”

The women did not answer immediately. Instead, they stared at Derek.

He was tall, with broad shoulders and a solid, muscular build. Even the scar on his cheek made it obvious that he was a rough-looking man who knew his way around a sword.

That meant one of two things.

He was either a customer who had come to Metton Street seeking entertainment such as gambling or prostitution, or a wandering swordsman who had drifted into the area looking for work.

The women exchanged wary glances and openly kept their distance from Derek.

“Would you please tell us what happened?”

Kassian had approached Derek without them noticing. He removed the hat pulled low over his head.

A gentle breeze happened to blow past at that moment, lightly ruffling his hair, black as obsidian. His tousled hair soon settled back into place.

The women stared without blinking at Kassian’s face as he gave them a faint smile.

“Ah…”

Soft gasps of admiration escaped their slightly parted lips. Their cheeks flushed with color.

“We might be able to help.”

When Kassian spoke again, the women hurried toward him and began chattering excitedly.

“Just a little while ago, right here? It looked like a young lady was being kidnapped.”

“…What? Kidnapped?”

Jason, who had only just joined them, asked with a serious expression. When the women glanced suspiciously at Jason, Kassian stepped in once again.

“He’s with me. Could you tell us a little more about what happened?”

The woman pointed in the direction she had been watching.

“I didn’t recognize the man. I’d never seen him around here before. He was about this tall, I think. She wasn’t dressed like someone poor or destitute. And there was a sword at his waist…”

After hearing the woman’s detailed account, the three men fell silent for a moment.

Jason was the first to speak.

“A kidnapping in broad daylight? What on earth was he thinking?”

“It’s obvious. In a slum like this, it isn’t uncommon for someone to be sold off in place of a family member who has accumulated more debt than they can possibly repay…”

Derek replied bitterly. Kassian’s thoughts were not much different from Derek’s.

At present, Metton Street was practically a lawless territory. It belonged to the empire, yet it could hardly be said to be under the empire’s control.

That did not mean there was no guard force stationed here.

The problem was that the guards alone were overwhelmed by the sheer number of crimes occurring throughout Metton Street.

And it was not a problem that could be solved simply by sending in a few more men. While investigating another case, Kassian had come face-to-face with this deeply rooted problem.

Based on everything he and Derek and Jason had investigated so far, it seemed that some powerful organization had taken control of Metton Street.

Perhaps because they were being threatened into silence, the people here were reluctant to open up to strangers.

As a result, gathering information has proven extremely difficult. Perhaps this incident could provide them with a way forward.

A chance to finally begin solving the problem.

“Did you see where the kidnapper went?”

Kassian deliberately toyed with the sword hanging at his waist as he asked.

A spark appeared in the woman’s eyes. She had no power to do anything herself.

But perhaps these three men, who were armed and capable, could rescue someone in danger. That hope was plain in her expression.

“Over there! They went that way!”

***

“Uwoooooo!”

The massive man charged toward Evelyn with a terrifying roar.

Evelyn quickly scanned her surroundings, desperately searching for somewhere to escape. But she was surrounded on every side.

A stone wall taller than Evelyn blocked the path behind her, while countless enemies surrounded her from the front. The escort knight and Harrison were in no better position.

Even when the men were knocked to the ground, they simply got back up like tumblers and charged at the two knights again.

They could cut their throats and make sure they never moved again.

But there was a reason Evelyn refused to let them kill their opponents even under such unfavorable circumstances.

‘There must be no casualties!’

Keeping that firmly in mind, Evelyn drew the dagger she had been clutching tightly for some time.

The small weapon was barely a handspan long. It hardly seemed capable of doing much against a man of that size.

Still, she intended to resist until the very end.

Unlike in her previous life, she had no intention of passively accepting the unreasonable treatment inflicted upon her.

The weapon in her hand was a declaration of that resolve.

“Huh…?”

The blade Evelyn swung grazed the man’s skin. It was not a fatal wound, but it seemed to have succeeded in making him furious.

“Well, well. Aren’t you a nasty little thing?”

The giant glanced at his thick arm, where a drop of blood had formed, and let out a booming laugh. But soon, the corners of his mouth twisted unpleasantly.

“I’ll teach you to break that nasty habit.”

Keeping his eyes fixed on Evelyn, the man swung his club threateningly through the air. He had clearly chosen Evelyn as his target.

“……”

Her body refused to stop trembling, but Evelyn did not turn around. She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead.

There was no point looking behind her when she already knew there was nowhere to run.

Then the giant raised a club almost as large as Evelyn herself high above his head.

“……!”

In that instant, Evelyn calculated the range of the attack that was about to come crashing down.

She threw herself sideways and narrowly avoided the blow. But avoiding the next attack would be difficult.

“Lucky little lady.”

The only thing he had accomplished was smashing the wall, but the giant merely chuckled. Then he raised the club again.

“But let’s see if you can dodge this one.”

Just as he said, there was nowhere left for her to go.

The barricade blocked her escape behind her, while the escort knight and Harrison seemed to have no strength left to come to her aid.

She was completely cornered. Evelyn stared blankly at the club swinging toward her.

That was when it happened.

“……!”

A huge shadow fell over her.

A moment later, a man leaped down from atop the high stone wall and stepped in front of Evelyn.

At the same time,

Boom!

A tremendous crash rang out.

Evelyn blinked once. When she opened her eyes again, the giant man was sprawled face-first on the ground.

And the person who had knocked him down appeared to be Prince Kassian.

‘What… just happened…?’

Even as Evelyn struggled to understand what had happened, one enemy after another began falling.

At the hands of Kassian and his subordinate, Derek. Not long after they joined the fight, the dangerous situation was over.

“Thank you for helping me. I was truly in danger and…”

Evelyn finally caught her breath and began to express her gratitude.

But then,

“Ugh…”

One of the security guards who still had enough strength left to move began struggling to get back on his feet.